


Close Call

by Bay



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-11 23:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bro gets sick all of a sudden, which scares Dave a little.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Call

**Author's Note:**

> For [this prompt](http://homesmut.dreamwidth.org/23456.html?thread=38568608#cmt38568608) from the homesmut community at Dreamwidth. Story is set a few months before the comic's main storyline begins. Also in the pesterlog scene I used John's old username and not his new one.
> 
>  **EDIT 12/22/2012** : FINALLY fixed the pesterlog formatting, yay!

For the past four days Dirk Strider had a hard time controlling his coughs. 

On the first day the coughing began he thought perhaps his throat had become dry because he hadn’t drunk enough water. That seemed reasonable considering Houston tended to get hot as hell during the summer. The second day he took a trip to the drug store that was a short distance from the apartment and bought some cough drops and medicine. After trying them his throat started to sooth a little, only for the coughs to come back in full force along with chest pains. The third and fourth days he still continued using the medicine and cough drops even though the coughs got worse. He assumed he had a very bad cold as he had been sick like this before, so he didn’t believe it was too serious—he would soon regret thinking that. 

That early afternoon as Dirk sat beside next to his sewing machine to make another puppet, he felt his throat tightening and coughed loudly. When the coughing got worse, he stood up and leaned over the sewing machine. It was at that instant his brother, Dave, entered the living room, a horrified expression on his face.

“What the hell, Bro? Four days and you’re still coughing? Didn’t you take some rest on your futon, at least?” 

Shaking his head, Dirk said, “Nah man, I got everything handled here. I don’t need to rest.” He suddenly coughed again, much harder this time. Immediately blood spattered on his hand. 

“Oh, fuck no!” Dave yelled in great concern. “You’re much sicker than I thought.”

“Again, don’t worry. Just burst a blood vessel in the throat from coughing hard. It’s cool, I’m fine.”

His brother raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be bleeding that much. That’s it, I’m calling the ambulance.” 

Dirk’s eyes grew wide. Of course he knew going to the hospital was a wise idea, but something came up to mind. What if the doctors found that he had a serious illness and deemed him not well enough to support him? The likely situation would be Dave taken away from him, which he didn’t want at all. He had taken care of his brother for twelve years and he would be damned if he missed Dave’s thirteen birthday coming this December. He watched as Dave took out his phone from the pocket of his pants and began dialing. 

“Wait, Dave! Please don’t call the ambulance!” he managed to say despite his voice getting weak and scratchy. He coughed and more blood, a slightly larger amount than last time, came out. 

“Dude, are you nuts? You need some serious medical attention.” Dave had the phone against his ear, waiting for a response. “Hello, operator?” he asked in an uneasy tone. “My bro has been coughing a lot of blood lately and needs an ambulance right fucking now.”

Dirk remained silent, knowing there was no use convincing Dave to relax at this point, and waited for the ambulance to arrive shortly after. Once the paramedics put him in the stretcher, they rolled him out of the living room and took the elevator down. 

+++

The hospital was only two miles from the apartment, but this was the longest ride Dave had ever taken. 

One paramedic had been keeping an eye on Bro, holding his wrist. Dave made himself give a quick glance at his brother and flinched upon seeing Bro’s drained face and hearing his harsh breathing. Calming himself, he heaved in a deep breath. He admitted to believing his brother being invincible; nothing would get in Bro the stealthy ninja’s way. It had stunned Dave then, as if something inside him broke, when he had to be carried in a stretcher. 

As soon as the ambulance made it to the hospital, Bro was quickly taken to the emergency room and under the care of doctors. Dave sat on a chair with the receptionist in the front desk watching over him. While waiting, thoughts over how serious Bro’s illness was and whether he would make it or not rushed through his mind. There was nothing else to do but keep hoping Bro hangs on a little longer like the badass fighter he was. 

It had been around nine o’ clock in the evening when a doctor approached Dave to speak with him. He was a man that looked to be a few years older than Bro and had messy brunette hair. 

“Dave, right?” the doctor asked, offering him a warm smile.

“Yup, that’s me.”

“Nice to meet you then, Dave. I’m Doctor Nickels.” The doctor held out his hand for Dave to shake, which he accepted. “According to my records, Dirk Strider is your brother and legal guardian, correct?”

Dave nodded. It felt strange hearing someone said Bro’s real name. “What it says on the tin, Doc.”

“Well, I have some good news and bad news. Good news is your brother is fine and is resting now.”

Despite being relieved Bro was still alive, he wanted—no, needed—to know what was wrong with him. “What’s the bad news?”

“The bad news is we had run an X-ray and blood test on him and I’m certain he has pneumonia. His symptoms are pretty bad for someone his age, though, so I’ll need to do more tests on him to make sure nothing serious is inside him.”

That didn’t sound too good to Dave. “Will Bro still be able to take care of me once he recovers?”

“It’s possible,” Doctor Nickels responded. Dave could tell he was somewhat uncertain by the tone in his voice. “Do you have any other relatives or guardians you can stay with for the time being?”

“Nope, just me and Bro this whole time.” Dave shrugged. As far as he was aware, Bro never mentioned anything about the other family members, if there were any at all. 

The doctor made an acknowledged sound. “I see. For now, though, you need to stay here under our watch for tonight and maybe tomorrow since you’re underage and you have no other relatives close by.”

Dave reflected what the doctor just said. He was stuck in the hospital for one or two more nights, not knowing how bad Bro’s pneumonia was. There was no reason he should go back to the apartment while his brother recovers—he was perfectly capable of staying there by himself. 

“This totally sucks,” he said in a low voice. 

“I know, but that’s the rules. I’m sorry.” Doctor Nickels frowned. He patted Dave on the back. “If you’re hungry, I can take you to the cafeteria.”

Taking a moment to consider the doctor’s offer, Dave felt a little hungry. Perhaps some food might ease his mind for a bit. “I’m cool with that.”

He followed Doctor Nickels as he led him to the cafeteria. During their walk, one question came to Dave’s mind.

“Hey, Doc, will I be able to still see Bro?”

“You can see him tomorrow morning before I have to do more blood tests on him,” Doctor Nickels said immediately, his face softened. 

That was something, at least. In either case, it was still going to be a couple depressing nights for Dave. 

+++

When the morning sun streamed through the windows, Dirk’s eyes flickered. He woke up with a start and glanced around his surroundings, realizing he was in a hospital room. Puzzled, he tried to figure out how he ended up in here in the first place. At that instant everything came into place—him coughing up blood and scaring Dave, the ambulance wheeling him off from the apartment and rushing to the hospital, the doctors doing an x-ray on his chest and a blood test, the mention of pneumonia but the symptoms were milder than the usual and he needed to go through more blood tests, for now to get a good night’s sleep. 

_That was one shitty day I had there_ , Dirk mused to himself. He was certain today wasn’t going to be any better. 

He then thought back to Dave. Where was he? He vaguely remembered him by his side during the ride to the hospital and being separated from him afterwards. Most likely his brother had to stay in the hospital overnight and be watched over by someone else temporarily. At best, hopefully Dave could visit him.

Dirk was distracted from his thoughts when he heard the door being opened. He jerked his head and saw Dave taking a few steps inside. 

“Hey, Bro,” Dave said when he stopped, a small smile being pulled on the corners of his mouth. Dirk returned the smile back.

“Hey. I take it the doctors are chill with you visiting me now?”

Dave nodded. “One of them told me you most likely have pneumonia and you’ll need more tests.”

“Yeah. It’s probably not as serious as the doctors thought…or at least I hope.” Dirk wasn’t too sure now if his health was at risk or not, it was hard to tell. “If that’s the case, I’ll make sure to take better care of myself.”

“That’s awesome to hear, dude,” Dave said, wearing a content expression on his face.

Dirk only responded with an easy smile. There were still the upcoming tests the doctors wanted to do, but for now he wanted to enjoy this moment with Dave. 

+++  
Dave had been left alone the time being when his brother had been taken away for more tests. It was close to lunchtime, so he went to the cafeteria to eat. After he finished eating his sandwich, he tensed when he heard his phone making a sound; he quickly took it out and read the first text, which came from his best friend, John.

\-- ghostlyTrickster [GT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 12:33 --

GT: hey, dave!   
TG: yo GT   
TG: you scared me a minute there   
GT: what, really?   
GT: is something wrong?   
TG: as a matter of fact there is   
TG: remember a couple days ago i mentioned my bro keeps coughing and was sick   
GT: i do, yes.   
GT: you kept complaining he was too stubborn to take some rest, which i agree!   
GT: i take it he hasn’t gotten any better?   
TG: nope other way around   
TG: he got fucking worse   
TG: bro coughed up some blood so i called the ambulance   
TG: waited for a while till the doc came and told me he needed to stay overnight   
TG: im now chillin at the cafeteria stuffing myself with a sandwich while bro is away for more tests   
TG: not knowing how sick he is   
GT: oh wow, so sorry to hear that, dave.   
GT: this ordeal must be very scary for you!   
GT: i can leave you alone for now and let jade and rose know to not bother you for the time being.   
TG: nah dude you can stick around a while longer until bro comes back   
TG: i could use some company now   
GT: all right, if you say so!   
TG: not sure if GG and TT will drop by today   
TG: but if they do after i already leave   
TG: can you tell them my bro is in the hospital but i should come back once everything is settled   
GT: i can do that, don’t worry.   
TG: i appreciate that thanks   
GT: no problem!   
GT: i hope your brother isn’t seriously ill and will feel better soon.   
TG: me too man me too   
TG: geez this conversation is getting too depressing lets talk about something else   
GT: sure, understandable.   
GT: you still taking pictures?   
TG: yup   
TG: there are a few i still need to send you and the others i took when it was cloudy at houston last week   
TG: the humidity sucks ass but the pictures are pretty sweet   
GT: sounds awesome!   
GT: how about your sweet bro and hella jeff comics?   
GT: still planning on updating it?   
TG: yeah i still do   
TG: not sure when due to recent events at my end but im not giving it up anytime soon   
TG: anything new happening with you?   
GT: nothing much, really.   
GT: i’m still playing the piano, watching movies, practicing my magic tricks sometimes.   
GT: you know how that goes.   
GT: oh crud, so sorry but i need to leave right now.   
GT: my dad just announced lunch is ready and has baked some brownies.   
GT: i’m pretty sure the brownies are from betty crocker, urgh.   
TG: that’s totally fine dude   
TG: i need to hop out of here anyways as its close to 1 and bro will be done with those tests in a bit   
TG: ill report how things went soon   
GT: all right, then, catch you later!   
TG: same here   
TG: dont forget to let jade and rose know what happened if they come today   
GT: i will!

\-- ghostlyTrickster [GT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 12:57 --

After logging out himself, Dave tucked his phone back in his pocket. He was glad John logged on as their conversation distracted his mind for a short time and he always enjoyed talking with him, anyways. He stood up, stepped out of the cafeteria, and headed back to Bro’s room. 

+++

 

Dirk was now back resting in his bed, but couldn’t stop wondering how the results went. 

In the evening Dave had left Dirk’s room for a little bit to grab something to eat. Not long after his brother came back someone had knocked on the door; Dirk had an idea who that was.

“Come in,” he said as loud as possible, careful not to strain his voice.

The door opened and Doctor Nickels entered in the room, files in hand. He smiled at them.

“Hello, you two.”

“Yo, Doc,” Dirk responded back while his brother just waved. “I take it the results are in?”

“Yes. In fact, I bring some great news. After looking through your tests, it’s safe to say that you indeed have pneumonia. I was worried yours would be quite serious, but it seems you only have some strong bacteria in your system. I’ll prescribe some antibiotics and then you’re clear to go.”

“So Bro is able to come back home now?” Dave asked, anticipation laced in his tone. 

Doctor Nickels nodded. “He’ll need to take lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids, though. Also I’ll need him to take the full course of the antibiotics.” He turned his head to look at Dirk. “Do call immediately if you don’t feel better after three days.” 

“I can manage that,” Dirk said. He shot the doctor an appreciated smile. 

He and Dave left the hospital and took the bus ride home. 

“As soon as I feel better, we’re going to be doing more harshraps,” Dirk said eventually during the ride. 

“Sweet, can’t wait.” Dave smirked. 

“You better be prepared when that happens. Damn, it’s been a while since I used Lil’ Cal.”

“Hope he’s holding up well by himself.”

“I’m sure he’s doing fine.” Dirk felt the smile on his face faded, something came to mind. “I’m sorry for scaring you like that yesterday. The reason I didn’t want you to call the hospital is I’m afraid you’ll be taken away from me if I’m unwell.”

A shocked look crossed Dave’s face, but he then gave Dirk an easy smile. “Don’t worry, no harm done. And that didn’t happen, right?”

Chuckling, Dirk said, “Nope, it didn’t.” He was certain Dave would feel the same way if he were in his place. All it matters now was that they still had each other and that should be kept that way for a long while.


End file.
